Open Letter to RichRod: Please Deliver a Win Over Ohio State

Dear Rich Rodriguez,

The University of Michigan players, alumni, and fans have been dying for a win over the hated Ohio State Buckeyes. Please give us a win in what is clearly a “trap game” for the Buckeyes this Saturday, November 21, 2009 at 12:00 pm in Ann Arbor.

The Buckeyes have secured a Rose Bowl appearance and the Big 10 Championship. With all of that already in the bag for them before this game….you never know.

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College Football TV Schedule and Point Spreads – Week 12 (November 21st)

Getting a jump start on next week’s college football TV schedule and point spread post because I don’t want to have to worry about it tomorrow night. Peyton v Brady will have my attention.

Anyway, the schedule is not filled with marquee matchups (Ohio State-Michigan is the headliner, if that tells you anything) but certainly could still be a pivotal week in the overall landscape of the season if any of the top teams stumble.

All will be favored by double digits though, so don’t hold your breath.

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Three Tennessee Football Players Arrested for Armed Robbery

This has got to be one of the dumbest things I’ve seen a while.

Three University of Tennessee football players, including much-heralded freshmen Nu’Keese Richardson and Janzen Jackson, were arrested this morning and charged with armed robbery. (Thanks for SEC Rivals for the tip.)

I don’t have confirmation on this yet, but charges of extreme idiocy and operating a human body without a brain could also be forthcoming.

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Feel Good College Football Story of the Week: WAC Hires PR Firm to Help Boise State Get BCS Bid

In Major League Baseball, teams in the race looking to make a late-season push will make a deadline deal to improve their roster. Case in point: the Phillies acquiring Cliff Lee.

In the NFL, teams looking to overcome longshot playoff odds get inventive with their playbook, like the Miami Dolphins did last year in using the Wildcat to power them to a playoff berth.

In college basketball, coaches will often loosen the reins on talented freshman during the second half of the season in an effort to unleash the potential of their teams, hoping it sparks a March run.

In college football, our national paragon of amateurism and integrity, schools and conferences hoping to achieve their postseason goals actually seek areas outside of their actual performance on the field to get a leg up on their competition.

Today’s example is Boise State, via the WAC, which has reportedly hired a PR firm to help the Broncos in their quest to make the BCS.

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College Football Point Spreads and TV Schedule – Week 10 (November 7th)

The college football Week 11 TV schedule and point spreads, for the week of Saturday, November 14th, have been posted!

Follow the link to view the college football TV schedule and point spreads for the week of November 14th.

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The plot is beginning to thicken, as they say, now that the calendar has turned to November.

Florida, Texas, and Alabama still appear to be the class of college football, with people still wondering exactly how good teams like Iowa, Boise State, and TCU really are.

And then there are the Oregons — teams written off because of an early season loss that have rebounded — who are charging up the top 25 and looking to play spoiler, if not outright BCS party crasher.

Let’s look ahead to Week 10 and the tv schedule and point spreads for Saturday, November 7th. LSU-Alabama is obviously the biggest game on the schedule, but there are some other ones that you’ll want to keep your eye on as well.

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College Football Point Spreads and TV Schedule – Week 9, October 31, Halloween Night

The college football Week 11 TV schedule and point spreads, for the week of Saturday, November 14th, have been posted!

Follow the link to view the college football TV schedule and point spreads for the week of November 14th.

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It’s time to look ahead to this Saturday with this weekend’s college football TV schedule and point spreads.

The majority of this weekend’s games will be played on October 31st, which is, of course, Halloweeen. With top teams like Florida, Iowa, and Texas all being favored by nine points or more, their fans are certainly hoping that Saturday does not turn out to be a night of terror.

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Big Ten Football Week 6 Roundup

Week 6 is in the books and it was a busy Saturday in the Big Ten with all 11 teams playing.  Three teams — Northwestern, Penn State, and Indiana — took on out-of-conference opponents, with the other 8 battling each other.

The only real surprise from the Big Ten was the beating Indiana took against Virginia. 

Indiana came into the game at 3-2, and while they have not beaten any particularly formidable opponents, they looked good against Michigan on the road in one of the hardest places to play a road game. Virginia came into the game at 1-3 with losses to William & Mary and Southern Miss. 

However, Indiana’s offense could not seem to get anything going while Virginia amassed 536 total yards including 231 on the ground and five rushing touchdowns. Indiana fans were surely looking for a better performance from the Hoosiers than this 47-7 romp.

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Wisconsin-Ohio State Preview and Prediction

Ohio State v Wisconsin has been one of the more exciting Big Ten matchups over the past three decades, with the Bucks holding only a 13-10-1 advantage since 1980.

In fact, there has even been some animosity that has carried over onto the field in the past.

Remember 2003 in Madison, Buckeye LB Robert Reynolds tackling then-Badger QB Jim Sorgi, choking the QB and knocking him out of the game?

Ironically Ohio State choked the game away, giving up a late 80-yard TD pass to Lee Evans, losing 17-10.

At the time, my grandpa claimed the 1993 (14-14 tie) game ended on a blocked field goal by Ohio State because they had 12 players on the field. He was old, so was that, and this is 2009. Let’s move on.

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From Cream to Crimson: The 2009 Journey of Bill Lynch

I don’t know if Bill Lynch is the man who can return Indiana football to its glory years of the 1980s under Bill Mallory — and yes, for IU, those were glory years — but I am definitely rooting for the guy.

And although the Hoosiers have fattened up on some weak non-conference meat so far this season, certainly there have been Hoosier teams that have started out worse than 3-2. So Lynch and the Hoosiers have that going for them, along with the positive vibes from the Hoosiers’ solid performance at Michigan.

For goodness sakes though, will someone please get Bill Lynch some sunscreen?

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Tennessee v Auburn: Underachievers and Overachievers

The Tennessee Volunteers come into their match-up against Auburn a little battered and bruised. The Vols will have to step up and play through the pain to shut down an undefeated Auburn team.

UT Running back Montario Hardesty suffered a knee injury last week against Ohio. Hardesty has been limited in practice but expects to play Saturday. This season has been a coming-out party for Hardesty and the Vols will need him to carry the football.

Nearly the entire Tennessee defense is dealing with minor injuries. Monte Kiffin will have to prepare this unit to face a high-octane Tigers offense. Auburn has scored over 35 points in each of their games so far.

However, everything isn’t as doom and gloom as it sounds for Tennessee.

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Yes, Charlie Weis’ Tenure as Notre Dame Head Coach Can Get Worse

Despite the “decided schematic advantage” that he has brought to South Bend (best seen here and here), Charlie Weis’ tenure at Notre Dame has not gone quite as well as he and the Notre Dame faithful had hoped.

Let’s see, there was that 3-8 record in 2007 that featured losses to Air Force and Navy, and then last season’s 7-6 mark that was highlighted by a loss to Syracuse (a football program on such solid footing that it turned to a former Duke basketball player to play quarterback this year). 

The putrid aftertaste of this 10-14 two-year span is most notably seen in this encouraging billboard that a group of ex-Irish football players bought in South Bend before this season started.

But just when you thought that things could not get worse in South Bend, that Weis’ seat could not possibly get hotter, there is this: Notre Dame’s 207-game sellout streak, which dates back all the way to 1973 (around the same time that this photo was taken), is in jeopardy of being broken this weekend.

Update: Well that didn’t take long.  The sellout streak is alive, according to ESPN. I’d like to think we had something to do with it…but I know we didn’t.

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The Trainer’s Room: Diagnosis, Recovery, and Treatment of AC Joint Sprains

During the first game of the season, against a tough BYU team, Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford was taken down at the end of the second quarter and landed on his throwing arm.

After the game, the Sooners released a statement saying that Bradford had sprained the AC joint in his throwing arm, and may be out for 2-4 weeks.

Now, after several weeks on the sideline, it appears he may return as early as this weekend against Miami.

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College Football Picks: Three Top 25 Matchups Highlight Week 5 Schedule

In what has seemingly been the year of upsets in college football, it’s been almost a guarantee that a highly ranked team will go down every week.

With three matchups between ranked teams this week, we know for certain that at least three ranked teams will lose. But again, that doesn’t mean the other ranked teams are safe, and more than one should be on upset alert this week.

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Tim Tebow Knocked Out (Video), Taken to Hospital With Possible Concussion

Wow, crazy scene in Lexington tonight involving Tim Tebow.

Already feeling the effects of a “respiratory condition” than many were speculating might be the H1N1 virus (aka swine flu), Tebow was knocked out of tonight’s Florida-Kentucky game and taken to the hospital with a possible concussion.

The hit occurred with 12:41 left in the game and he obviously did not return. Before being injured, Tebow threw for 103 yards and a TD, and he also ran for 123 yards plus two scores.

Here is the painful video of the hit by Kentucky defensive end Taylor Wyndham that knocked Tebow out:

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Hell of a Job by the Hoosiers (Not the Refs) in Ann Arbor

I was in Memorial Stadium the last time Indiana beat Michigan in football.

The year was 1987, and Indiana was just a few years removed from a winless season. With Bill Mallory as head coach, and led by Anthony Thompson and Dave Schnell, the Hoosiers put together one of the best seasons in school history that year. They beat both Michigan and Ohio State and found themselves in the top 10 for the only time since I’ve been alive.

Today, the Hoosiers — this edition coached by Bill Lynch and led by freshman RB Darius Willis and junior QB Ben Chappell — almost knocked off the Michigan Wolverines for the first time in two decades, but ultimately fell just short.

And the Hoosiers should justifiably be feeling cheated as they fly home.

Who knows what would have happened if the referees had not awarded possession to Michigan on a controversial interception with 2:30 left in the 4th quarter, but it sure would have been nice to see the Hoosiers have a chance to drive down the field.

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